


Scripts and Footballs

by vhscore



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Angst, Color Guard, Dissociation, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone has ADHD, F/F, Foster Care, Found Family, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lup and Lucretia are autistic, M/M, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, and i came out with some solid lupcretia, i started this with taakitz and blupjeans in mind, thats what happens when u write at 2 am, thats what started this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23481271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vhscore/pseuds/vhscore
Summary: Lup and Taako are in color guard. Kravitz and Barry are in marching band. Magnus plays football and his foster sister, Lucretia, is a huge nerd.Follow these losers as they go through high school, navigating crushes, relationships, and childhood best friends meeting new band camp best friends.
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), The Director | Lucretia/Lup
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Scripts and Footballs

**Author's Note:**

> I promise you my writing is better than the summary.
> 
> (best read on computer because of texting format)
> 
> Chapter warnings: Lup is dissociating pretty heavily during most of the chapter and at the end

Two elves drag their feet through a crowded middle school hallway. The two are huddled closely together, whispering. After a moment, the elf with short hair walks a few feet ahead to where two other students are standing. One student, a human boy who has clearly already hit his growth spurt, is loudly telling a story to the human girl he is standing next to, her white hair in a sleek ponytail a big contrast to her deep brown skin. The elf with short hair taps the girl’s shoulder.

“Hey, uh, my name is Lup and this is my brother Taako. We’re new here, and we’re not too sure where our lockers are at.”

The girl with dark skin looks at the elf and smiles.

-+-

“Luluuuuuuu! Lu! Lu! Lu-” 

Taako is cut off by a hand over his mouth and a sleepy glare. “If you don’t shut up right now I’ll shove my hand in your mouth.” Taako licks her hand and she wipes it on his shirt. He’s already dressed for the day.

“Lup if you don’t get your ass out of bed we’re gonna be late and you _know_ Lucy’s gonna beat your ass.”

“Oh shut up, just give me a minute.” Taako rolls his eyes but leaves Lup alone. He puts together his sister’s bag for her, surfacing from the basement where their baller bedroom set up is at. Their aunt, Rita, isn’t home right now. She’s on the road for whatever her job is, but she trusts the twins with the house. Is that a good decision? Probably not, but it’s too late now.

He throws together a bowl of cereal for Lup- if it’s too soggy when she gets there that’ll be her fault. Fortunately for her, she gets to the kitchen before her breakfast is inedible. The twins make idle chat about school. It’s the first day of eleventh grade and, despite waking up at 6:30 every day for band camp, they’re miserable. Well, Lup’s miserable, Taako didn’t sleep whatsoever so he’s a bit more… ecstatic than usual. He’s flapping his hands around as he talks, telling Lup about how him and Magnus were already planning how to get a hit on Mr. Miller, their shared science teacher. Lup nods like she’s listening, trying not to fall back asleep. She’s startled awake by her phone buzzing.

It’s a text to the new group chat.

**token footballer (6:45):** hey t + l me n luc r on our way!!!

**nerd alert (6:46):** are you guys sure you wanna pick me up? i already told you guys that i can just ride my bike, plus it adds another 20 minutes to your drive in the morning and the afternoon.

**hte evil one (6:46):** hot shit barold

 **hte evil one (6:46):** learn to not type like a fuckin nerd

**(6:46)** yea bjeans nbdy likes a nerd

 **(6:47)** n yea i gotta wake up early

 **(6:47)** but ill just sleep on the ride down n shit

**hte evil one (6:47):** and full offense my dude but ur bike is fuckin nerdy

 **hte evil one (6:47):** a whole ass basket in back n everything

 **hte evil one (6:47):** play a smaller instrument, dipshit

**token footballer (6:48):** yeah!!! Me n luc already wake up suuper early

 **token footballer (6:48):** so its not really a problem!!!

 **token footballer (6:49):** n u already agreed to pay for coffee etc 3 outta 5 days 2 make up 4 gas so

 **token footballer (6:49):** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**(6:49)** i s2g maggie one day ill get u to tell me how u do that

**Token footballer (6:50):** ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

**(6:50)** i kno where u live

Taako takes the bowl out from in front of Lup and rinses it out in the sink, leaving it there for whoever ends up doing dishes next. They have a system and stuff, but he’s too lazy to remember it right now. Lup runs down to the basement and comes back up with her backpack, stuffing her clothes, makeup, and hair supplies in her gym bag.

During the first month of band and color guard camp, the twins had become extremely attached to Barry Bluejeans, the new french horn. This year was his first at their school, but he was able to go to band camp in the summer before anyways. Football camp gets out and starts when color guard and band camp does, so Magnus drops the twins off and they wait a few minutes for Magnus to come pick them up afterwards. Barry rode his bike to and from camp, so he would sit and wait with Taako and Lup. They grew on each other like moss on a tree. (Barry being the tree and the elves being the moss, of course.)

They had worked out this plan about a week ago- Barry lived 20 minutes away from Taako and Lup’s house, so the twins would get picked up first. Lup liked to sleep in as late as possible, so she would get ready in the car. Taako and Lup had been friends with Lucretia and Magnus since sixth grade, so their boundaries were almost nonexistent around each other. Taako preferred waking up earlier for a semblance of privacy, but Magnus or Lup (they took turns) almost always did Taako’s hair before school. It had been like that for as long as Taako could remember. 

The honk outside made Lup jump, not realizing that she was staring into space until Taako handed her her medicine. One titty skittle and one Generic Ritalin. (Not ™ because it’s generic, of course.) She swallows hers dry, making direct eye contact with Taako while he washes down his antidepressant and Ritalin with a glass of water. He tosses the cup of water into a big bowl in the sink, not processing how terrible of a decision that is until his entire right side is doused in water. He opens his mouth to scream some profanity as the car honks again from outside. 

Lup grabs his hair and pulls him along as he whines about how his new sweater is ruined, and he barely manages to grab his bag before Lup pulls him out of the door and locks it behind them. He dashes into the seat behind Magnus as Lucretia slides into the middle seat from behind Lucretia. She’s driving, of course. It may be Magnus’s car, but he’s always too hyper in the morning to drive properly.

It really amazes Lup sometimes how they all ended up together. Four trans kids, all of them gay in one sense or another, all of them with a learning disability or two. She almost laughs out loud at how well Barry fits into the group. She snaps back to reality by Magnus patting her knee. She blinks and he’s leaning around, looking her in the eyes.

“Hey, Lup, you good there?” he asks. He’s super good at recognizing when someone’s out of it, or overwhelmed, or any other brain funk someone may fall into. She nods, mumbling something about how the drugs haven’t kicked in yet. She turns to pull out her clothes, moving as if she’s a robot. She really hopes the Ritalin will kick in soon. Sometimes the ADHD and trauma doubles down on her and she can barely function. She really hates those days because even though Lucretia will write down notes for her and Magnus will keep a hand on her shoulder, everything is far away. Nothing is in focus.

She blinks and she’s in her leggings. She blinks again and her shorts are on. She blinks again and she’s tucking her sweater into her shirt. Another blink and she’s handing the sleeveless top to Taako, still complaining about his wet arm. Another blink later and Taako is helping her toss her backpack into the third set of seats behind them.

Suddenly, she’s woken up to a weight pressed in her lap. It’s her gym bag. She looks to her left and to her right. Barry is sliding in next to her on her left. Taako is on her right, holding her hand, rubbing circles into the back of it. She can feel that her hair is brushed. She feels it brush against the back of her neck. The hair is smooth because she took a shower last night. She breathes in the smell of vanilla. Magnus answers her question before she asks it.

“It was maybe 10 or 15 minutes. We just picked up Barry. What do you want from Fantasy Starbucks?” He’s looking her in the eyes again and, yeah, okay. She feels a whole lot better than she was 20 minutes ago. Maybe waking up so early isn’t doing it for her.

“Uhh… the uh, the….” She trails off, trying to get a grip. She can feel Barry looking at her worried. But it’ll be fine, she’s sure. It’s the first day so it’s a half day, they’re going to get lunch after and complain about their classes, she just needs to get a grip. She sighs. Taako takes over for her.

“Grande mocha with soy milk, three shots, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle.” Lup smiles as she listens to her Bad Day Order. Extra espresso, and boy does she love chocolate. Not to mention the lactose intolerance. That just sucks. They go around the car listing off their orders as Magnus writes them down into Lucretia’s phone. She’s a stickler for no texting and driving. 

Lup’s also pretty sure that she has all of their orders written down (except for Barry’s) at this point, but it’s just customary to ask. Plus, it’s helpful in situations like this. Is Lup having a Bad Day or a Super Bad Day? Does Taako need a I Didn’t Sleep or a Make Me Not Think About Sazed? That sort of thing.

They pull up to Starbucks and Magnus turns the music down. She didn’t even realize that he had been playing anything, but she recognized the Spotify playlist that was shown on the little screen on the dashboard. It’s the playlist with all of Lup’s grounding and favorite songs on it. (This is definitely Lucretia’s doing. She’s that kind of friend, and everyone loves her for it. Lup’s actually pretty sure that she’s working on a playlist for Barry.)

When her drink is handed to her, she’s in her mind enough to blow on it before taking a sip. The bitter heat and chocolatey sweetness is enough to pull her back together. When Taako hands her a hairbrush, she shoves her mocha into Barry’s hand with a, “Hold this.” and she gets to work.

As they pull up to the school, Taako is wearing lip gloss and his hair is double braided. Lup put on just a dash of eyeshadow and some dark red lipstick that stains her cup as she drinks from it. When Lucretia pulls into student parking, they all tumble out of the car. Magnus grabs the backpacks, handing them to everyone in turn.

Barry chugs the rest of his coffee before tossing it into the trash can they parked by. He thanks the siblings excessively for the ride before leaving to make it to band class. Apparently he has to get there early to help set up with some of the other section leaders.

Lup knows Taako needs to go take care of a few things before class, so she grabs his hand with hers and gives it a little squeeze. _Go on. I’ll be okay._

He leaves after giving everyone a kiss on the cheek. Carey and Killian walk by as he’s leaving, taking Magnus with them. He’s the captain of the team, despite being on the offensive line. As they walk away, Lup can hear them talking about football, as footballers tend to do.

Lucretia smiles at Lup. “I have to go take some papers to Principal Davenport for the Newspaper Club, if you’d like to come along?” Lup nods graciously. She doesn’t want to be alone, not by a long shot, but she also doesn’t want to ask to go with anyone.

“Why do you call him that? He’s like, your dad.”

“He’s my _foster parent,_ yes, but on school property he’s Principal Davenport or Mr. Davenport. At home he’s just Davenport.”

“You have his last name.”

“I needed one.”

“Magnus calls him dad.”

“ _You_ call him dad. As does Taako.”

“Taako calls him Dad’n’port.”

“Eh, close enough.”

A simple conversation is enough for Lup to tell Lucretia that she’s not up for talking. Lup can easily fall into scripts of dialogue when she doesn’t feel good enough to make her own. Lucretia and Lup have this conversation a lot, but never in a scripted way, like a play, except for when Lup needs to be an actress. And Lucretia can act just as well.

“You should definitely join the Newspaper Club this year.”

“You’ve already turned in the paperwork.” (Not exactly true, but it’s the script. Some actors improvise, this one does not.)

“That doesn’t mean anything. You can join anytime. We’re always open for you,” Lucretia says that last bit softer than the rest of the sentence. She opens the door to the school for Lup.

“Yeah, well, what would I even do?” Lup holds open the office door for Lucretia.

“You know how good you are at love advice. Or just straight up life advice.” Lucretia’s going off script now. Usually she says something about how she’s “sure you could figure something out,” but this is different. “Just something to think about,” Lucretia adds on at the end, probably realizing that she went off-script. Which is strange; Lucretia usually isn’t slow about things. Lup thinks.

After the two turn in the club papers to Lucretia and Magnus’s foster father, who just so happens to also be the principal, they walk to Lup’s locker together. It’s 7:35 when they get there. Lup tries to unlock her locker three times before giving up and leaning her head against the cool metal of the locker door next to hers. Lucretia puts in the combination, helping Lup put away her books. Lup mumbles many ‘I’m sorry’s.

Since it’s the first day, she really only needs her (Lucretia issued) planner and a pencil. (Lucretia makes sure everyone stays on top of their planners or else nobody would get their work done. Everyone is grateful.) After she has her materials out, she looks at Lucretia.

The dark skinned girl is a bit taller than she is, maybe by two or three inches. Lucretia tucks a strand of blonde hair behind Lup’s long, feathered ear. It twitches. Lucretia smiles. For a second, it’s only those two in the hallway. Then the moment is broken by a bell ringing above their heads, signalling that everyone has to be in class in five minutes. Lucretia gives Lup a smile.

“Well, I have to get going, but I’ll see you in P.E.” She gives the freckled girl a kiss on the cheek before turning to leave. It’s normal for everyone to be affectionate in their little group, but everyone does it in different ways. Lucretia very rarely gives kisses like Taako does. It must be because Lup’s been having a bad day, and she smiles at that thought. The thought that people are there for her. That thought helps her stay afloat from sinking into the ground but weighed down from floating through the ceiling as she makes her way to her first hour.

**Author's Note:**

> i did almost as much research into ADHD meds as i did into HS classes & football positions, and the research into starbucks drinks was way,  
> way more than those.  
> also i was dissociating all day before i wrote this so thats why lup is having A Time anna oop  
> oh and dont worry im hittin everyone with angst, lup just took the blunt of it this chapter (Sorry luv u Lup)
> 
> ALSO!!! I'm looking for a beta reader!! Right now my qpp is beta reading (thanks Vriska) but they haven't listened to TAZ, they're just checking my grammar. If anybody is interested in beta reading (who can make sure I don't take them too out of character), hit me up on discord (dbawsol#0378) or tumblr (dbawsol)! warning: you may become the person i rant to about this story, which means you may get spoilers & stuff


End file.
